Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Swear
Maintain your rank, vulgarity despise,
To swear is neither brave, polite, nor wise;
You would not swear upon a bed of death—
Reflect—your Maker now may stop your breath.
Anonymous.—From Adams’s Quotations.
When truth’s conspicuous we need not swear.
Pomfret.—Epi. to Delia.
Odd’s-life! must one swear to the truth of a song?
Prior.—Answer to Cloe, Verse 3.
Nay, let me alone for swearing.
Shakespeare.—Twelfth Night, Act III. Scene 4. (Sir Andrew to Sir Toby.)
Our armies swore lustily in Flanders (said my uncle Toby), but nothing to this.
Sterne.—Tristram Shandy, Vol. III. Chap. XI.